a component's lead. Wires used range from isolated wires, including verowire (enameled copper wire with a polyurethane insulation supposed to melt when soldered), to bare copper wire, depending on individual preference, and often also on what is currently at hand in the workshop. For insulated wires thin solid core wire with temperature-resistant insulation such as Kynar or Tefzel is preferred. The wire gauge is typically 24 - 30 AWG. A special stripping tool can be used, incorporating a thin steel blade with a slit that the wire is simply inserted into and then pulled loose, leaving a clean stripped end. This wire was developed initially for circuit assembly by the wire wrap technique but also serves well for miniature point-to-point wiring on perfboard. Bare copper wire is useful when merging a number of connections to form an electrical bus such as the circuit's ground, and when there is enough space to properly route connections, instead of wiring them rat's-nest style. Intentional solder bridges can be used to connect adjacent pads when necessary. Careful hand–eye coordination is needed to avoid causing inadvertent short circuits. Comparison with similar items Circuits assembled on perfboard are not necessarily fragile but may be less impact-resistant than printed circuit boards. Perfboard differs from stripboard in that each pad on perfboard is isolated. Stripboard is made with rows of copper conductors that form default connections, which are broken into isolated segments as required by scraping through the copper. This is similar to the pattern of default connections on a solderless breadboard. However, the absence of default connectivity on perfboard gives the designer more freedom in positioning components and lends itself more readily to software-aided design than stripboard or breadboard. Gallery See also Stripboard (Veroboard) Breadboard (Protoboard) Electronics substrates Electronic design Electronics work tools